Bogalusa has many who want to make our community better; however, if we are not united, then our individual strengths cannot be utilized to sustain community progress for years to come.

So whose responsibility is it to unite our city leaders, business leaders, education leaders, civil servant leaders, church leaders, and community members? These are the crucial community entities as I see it.

Uniting people is sometimes a difficult task, but it is a task necessary when you are a leader in any community — these entities are dependent upon each other for success.

Here are some truths.

• Relationships between leadership in each community entity is a must. These relationships must be sincere, honest, loving, transparent, and unselfish. In addition, these relationships need to be a community expectation in order to sustain this unity as leadership changes over time.

• Leaderships must be courageous in admitting where Bogalusa is, as a whole community, and within each community entity.

• Leaderships must agree on a common vision of where Bogalusa can be, how we are going to get there, what our individual roles are in each entity and phase, and how we are going to hold each other accountable in a positive sense to ensure that our resources are utilized efficiently and we are able to identify what is working and what is not.

• And finally, leaderships must focus on embracing their people; people are a community’s greatest asset. We must unite them, love them, educate them, and empower them.

These truths are sustainable solutions; they don’t end like programs and grants do. If we live these truths, then our children will live them. Sustainability!

So my question remains … whose responsibility is it to unite our city leaders, business leaders, education leaders, civil servant leaders, church leaders, and community members?

Jason Arcenaux

Bogalusa